Thursday, August 27, 2009

Where to begin, where to begin! So much has been going on! Well, to begin with, we have decided to pull our two older daughters from public schools to homeschool. This is something we have tossed around since the two big girls were just lil' girls. Finally I conquered my fears and just went for it. We are going with a secular curriculum based on the Core Knowledge Of America books (which means that they will be following very closely with their public schooled peers). I am getting NO support from my family which is really hard, but I believe whole heartedly in this decision and know that this will be the best for my children... wish me luck!

SECONDLY, MAELAN IS A POTTY TRAINED GIRL! She even goes to bed with underware on and USUALLY keeps them dry all night (We have taken to getting her back up before we go to bed to make her go potty, which helps) It is so nice to have the majority of my children out of diapers, which leads me to...

MISSES FLUFFY BUNS! We decided to switch Brynn to cloth diapers!

Doesn't she look so CUTE?

This decision stems from the fact that we just want to be DONE with disposables! We did cloth for Erin, and decided to do disposable for Abrya and Maelan.... now we are going back to our 'roots' you could say:). I am so happy that we decided to do it this way... besides, cloth diapers are SO MUCH CUTER:)

Saturday, August 8, 2009

I should have done this earlier, but I didn't think of it until now. My friends Stacey is probably one of the craftiest people I know, and she makes the cutest little things! She uses really outstanding designs and the fabric is always so cute! I have a sling from her that I use on a daily basis, and my little girls all have Rainbow Tutus:) I plan on purchasing a few more things from her (After my yearly house inasurance payment at the end of this month). She makes awesome totes, and little baby bibs that you can't find anywhere else. Check her shop out! It is worth the click:) I promise:)

Thursday, August 6, 2009

So, today my MaeMae turned 2, so as I had said I would do, I am going to reminisce about the day Maelan was born.

Maelan was due July 30th... which passed... as did the 31st. We went into August, which was alright with me because I had already had a July baby (Erin) and was kinda hoping she would be born in August. Well, August came... 1st, 2nd, 3rd getting antsy... 4th getting angry... 5th in hysterics. I woke up on the morning of the 5th bawling my eyes out because I was STILL swollen and STILL pregnant... I was on an online community where it seemed everyone but me had given birth-my baby just didn't want to leave~!

I called my mother while I was crying just for some support, and she said the same thing she always did "Well, are you feeling any signs?" which just made me cry harder, because no, I was not feeling any signs and was certain I was on the road to being the first pregnant lady forever. I got off of the phone with her and Laura, my midwife, showed up to check and see how I was progressing. I asked her if she would strip my membranes, and she did. Before she left I was feeling a little crampy and she said "well, maybe I'll be back tonight"

"Yeah right..." I replied.

An hour after she left those cramps became pains, and the pains came at regular intervals. We went to the store to pick up a yoga ball to see if it could help get things rolling. The pains were not very intense and were few and far between which made me feel like I wasn't really in labor. Finally Ed convinced me that he was going to call his work and call his parents so that things would be ready for when the baby came, even though I was still in labor denial. He also called my midwife. The girls left around 9, and my midwife showed around 11. She said she wanted to check me as at this point, my contractions were coming regularly and strong... but I STILL was convinced it wasn't labor... that is until I found out I was already 7~!

This is when the contractions became really intense, though bearable. Ed filled the birth pool for me, and I was so excited to get into it. I flopped myself into the water, but it was freezing cold... Ed had forgotten that our water heater automatically turned off after midnight to conserve energy:( So he had to empty it and refill it. By the time it was filled again, I was not moving. I got the urge to push soon after that and began pushing. She came out very quickly. I remember sitting up as she was born and seeing a big 5:20 on my alarm clock, so I actually called the birth minute with Maelan!:) She had a little bit of a hard time taking her first breath, but she came around after lots stimulation. She was beautiful and I fell in love right away. She nursed within the first few minutes of her birth, and we all fell asleep in our bed after a breakfast of eggs and toast. She was 9lbs 12 oz and 21 inches long. She was born during a gentile thunderstorm on August 6th at 5:20 am.

I am excited, because I love making soap, so this is a good excuse to make MORE of it. It is like opening a christmas present cutting into a soap block for the first time... you just never know what you are going to get, and are usually pleasantly suprised:)

I recently found a recipe for homemade laundry detergent also, and I believe I am going to give that a shot too... Oh my gosh... I just realized I AM, in fact, a HIPPY...Where's my bra? I'm not ready to give THAT up yet....